12 killed in heavy rain in China's Zhengzhou

People wade through a waterlogged road in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, July 20, 2021. More than 144,660 residents have been affected by torrential rains in central China's Henan Province since July 16, and 10,152 have been relocated to safe places, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said Tuesday. A total of 16 large and medium-sized reservoirs have seen water levels rise above the alert level after torrential rains battered most parts of the province on Monday and Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhu Xiang)

ZHENGZHOU, July 21 (Xinhua) -- A total of 12 people have been killed in the torrential rains in the downtown area of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of central China's Henan Province, the local government said.

About 100,000 people have been relocated to safe places, it added.

The accumulated rainfall reached 449 mm on average in Zhengzhou from 6 p.m. Sunday to midnight Tuesday. Both Henan provincial and Zhengzhou municipal meteorological bureaus have raised the emergency response for meteorological disasters to level I.

More than 160 trains stopped services at Zhengzhoudong Railway Station, stranding a large number of passengers.

Heavy rains in Henan are expected to last until Wednesday night, according to forecasts.